For many years orthodontic arches, colloquially known as "braces," have been applied to patients' teeth by orthodontists and by dentists to assist in correcting a variety of conditions. By making adjustments in selected parts of the arches and by using various supplemental tools and appliances, orthodontists and dentists have been able to effect changes in patients' mouths, when changes are necessary from a functional viewpoint or desirable from a cosmetic or aesthetic point of view. Orthodontic face-bows are one class of appliances which has been used to bring about desired changes in a number of types or classes of malocclusion.
An orthodontic face-bow can be described generally as a supplemental appliance which may be adjusted periodically by an orthodontist or dentist and which is readily and easily attachable to, and removable from, an orthodontic arch by the patient himself. A face-bow is constructed so that a portion is attachable to the arch and a further portion extends outside of the patient's mouth. The external portion is fastened around the patient's neck or the back or top of the patient's head where it is activated by a suitable elastic, such as by and through an elastic neck strap or head harness. In most cases an orthodontic face-bow is used at night and in the privacy of a patient's home. In severe cases, or where the patient is amenable, the face-bow can be worn around-the-clock, particularly during the first three to six months of treatment. Applicant's U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,087,245; 3,121,953; and 3,186,089 disclose face-bows and method of treating conditions requiring correction. Such face-bows have been effectively used.
In some cases, and in treating some conditions, it has been found necessary to use, in sequence, a conventional face-bow and thereafter a high-pull face-bow. For example, in cases of deep overbite where there is insufficient space in the upper dental arch, it has been necessary to use a conventional face-bow for as much as six to eighteen months to open the arch, and thereafter to use a high pull face-bow to level off a steep occlusal plane. In some such cases, rather than to take the time necessary for the sequential treatment, upper bicuspids have been removed to provide the necessary space to accommodate the anterior teeth.
Further, very recently, face-bows made by some manufacturers, because of failure to give proper instruction in their use, have been said to have caused serious injury to the eyes and faces of patients. Because face-bows are secured to the head or neck by an elastic strap or bands (and in high-pull face-bows of an elastic to the head), if the strap is not removed and one attempts to lift the face-bow over the head and loses his grip, it is apparent that upwardly or rearwardly projecting portions of the face-bow can contact the face or eyes. Such misuse of face-bows and the failure to remove the elastic before removal of the face-bow from the orthodontic arch has allegedly resulted in the loss of sight by patients in several situations.
In accordance with the present invention, not only is the face-bow more efficacious for its intended functional purposes, but it is also so constructed that it may not be removed either accidentally without first removing the elastic, nor may it purposefully be removed without first disengaging the elastic. As such, when the face-bow of this invention is used it will prevent the types of eye and facial injuries which have recently occurred.
One of the principal corrective techniques for which the face-bow of this invention may be used is that of correcting cases of deep overbite and maxillary protrusion cases, commonly known as "buck teeth." Another primary technique with which the face-bow of this invention may be used is in the flattening of the maxillary occlusal plane where a patient's occlusal plane is pitched steeply downwardly. By a steep downward pitch is meant that the plane in which a patient's teeth occlude is one which is angled sharply downwardly from the posterior to the anterior regions of the patient's mouth. By reducing the downward slope of the plane of occlusion, the final occlusion achieved by various corrective techniques tends to be more stable and more permanent as well as providing a more aesthetic occlusion. Additionally, distal driving, the rearward driving of crowns and roots of the teeth, may also be accomplished, if desired, with a face-bow embodying the principles of this invention.
With the face-bow of this invention, it is possible to secure more rapid, more effective, more uniform, more positive and more permanent correction of a deep overbite case than has been possible in the past. In part this is because stronger forces may be employed to bring about a change and modification of the maxillary bone structure, thereby achieving more rapid, desired orthopedic-orthodontic results. This has the potential of substantially reducing the time needed for wearing braces because orthodontic tooth movement may be accelerated by reorientation of the arch-tooth configuration in all sections of the maxillary arch simultaneously. As will appear, the entire maxilla may be driven rearwardly simultaneously by providing means for acting against both the anterior teeth and molars at the same time, all without necessitating the extraction of teeth, such as bicuspids, as is frequently done.